


Along Came a Spider

by Gobayern16



Series: Star Wars Whumptober 2020 [18]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Arachnophobia, Dissociation, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Phobias, Podfic Welcome, Quinlan being a good partner, Spiders, Vox - Freeform, Whump, Whumptober 2020, snuggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gobayern16/pseuds/Gobayern16
Summary: Quinlan is chatting with Commander Thorn when a wave of terror and panic floods the Force. He staggers from the strength of it."General Vos?" Commander Thorn reaches for Quinlan in alarm. But before he can make contact, several blaster shots sound from down the hallway.From Fox's office.
Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox & Clone Commander Thorn, CC-1010 | Fox/Quinlan Vos
Series: Star Wars Whumptober 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948018
Comments: 7
Kudos: 117





	Along Came a Spider

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Whumptober Prompt #18: Panic! At the disco - Phobias  
> Thank you to the wonderful RogueLadyVader for beta-ing!

Quinlan is chatting with Commander Thorn when a wave of terror and panic floods the Force. He staggers from the strength of it.

"General Vos?" Commander Thorn reaches for Quinlan in alarm. But before he can make contact, several blaster shots sound from down the hallway.

From Commander Fox's office.

Quinlan bolts down the hallway, sabre lit. Commander Thorn barks at the nearest squad to follow him; Quinlan can practically taste their worry.

He bursts into Fox's office, saber snapping up to deflect the bolt aimed at his head into the wall. He surveys the room, staring in confusion at what he sees. Fox is pressed into a corner, blaster pointed towards the desk with slightly trembling hands. On the desk are several scorch marks, as well as half of... something. Quinlan lowers his saber.

“Fox?” He asks, confused but cautious. Fox is clearly terrified out of his mind, but Quinlan can’t see the reason why.

“Is it dead?”

Quinlan frowns at him.

“Is what dead?”

“The spider. Is it dead?” Fox’s voice quavers. Commander Thorn pushes past Quinlan and steps to the desk. He pokes the thing - half a spider, Quinlan can see now - with the tip of his blaster.

“Yeah, Fox, it’s dead. You got it,” Commander Thorn confirms. “I’ll clean up here. Why don’t you call it a night? Go have dinner with your boyfriend.”

Quinlan takes this as the cue it is and moves toward Fox. He gently pulls him out of the corner and walks them to the door, keeping himself between Fox and the desk. Fox remains tense until they step out of his office. The hallway is mercifully empty, so on one but Quinlan is witness to Fox collapsing against the wall.

“Woah, hey now.” Quinlan grabs Fox’s shoulders, steadying him. “Come on, let’s get to your quarters and into something comfy.” He slings an arm around Fox’s waist. They continue deeper down the hallway, away from the main Guard office. The entire journey Fox is silent, shaking in Quinlan’s arms. His eyes are far away, as if reliving some horrible memory. 

Once in Fox’s quarters, Quinlan strips them of their outer layers, until Fox is just in his blacks, and Quinlan in his under tunic and leggings. He settles them on the bed, pulling Fox into a warm embrace. He nuzzles Fox’s hair, placing a soft kiss on his head. One of his hands rubs comforting circles on Fox’s back.

They lay there, intertwined, Quinlan sending him love and comfort through the Force. Gradually, Fox’s trembling eases, and his breathing changes, signaling his return to himself. He sighs, burying his face in Quinlan’s chest.

“You back with me, Fox?” Quinlan asks softly.

“Yeah,” Fox’s voice is muffled. “Sorry about that.”

“Sorry for what? Having a panic attack? Fox -”

“I’m a commander in the GAR! The Commander of the Coruscant Guard!!” Fox spits, pushing himself up from Quinlan’s chest. “I should be better than this! I shouldn’t fall apart just because of some tiny little spider! I can’t! I have troopers to lead!” Fox shudders, squeezing his eyes shut. He opens them again at Quinlan’s soft touch.

“Hey. This doesn’t make you weak. Or unfit to lead.” Fox opens his mouth to argue but Quinlan barrels on. “No. I don’t know who taught you that, but having trauma doesn’t make you weak. And anyone who tells you that is full of shit.” Quinlan pulls Fox back down. “You’re strong and dedicated. You care so much and your men respect your leadership because they know that. So you’re scared of spiders, so what? People are scared of any number of things. Look at Kenobi. He’s afraid of bang-corn because the first time he made it, he took it out too soon and it popped in his face. You’re not alone in this Fox.”   
  
They lay in there in silence for several long minutes. Quinlan thinks Fox is asleep when he speaks up.

“It was our first off-world training mission. Some uninhabited planet near Wild Space. There was some kind of magic temple, and it affected the things living there.” Fox shudders. “The spiders… It made them huge and aggressive. They dragged me back to the temple, were crawling on me…” Fox trails off, breath speeding up from the traumatic memories. Quinlan strokes his back, grounding him. He murmurs soothing nonsense until Fox is no longer fighting back tears.

“Thank you for telling me, Fox.” Quinlan hugs him tight, almost crushing Fox to his chest.

Fox snuggles into Quinlan’s hold. They fall asleep, Fox safe and protected in Quinlan’s loving embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos greatly appreciated. :)
> 
> So I have a WIP that gives the backstory to the incident Fox mentions, the training mission that gives him severe arachnophobia. It’s a bit slow going, as it is my first chaptered fic, but I will begin posting it once I have a rough draft of all the chapters. 
> 
> **Permissions:** All my works, including this one, can be translated and podficced without first asking my express permission. I ask only that you credit me as the original author and provide a link back to the original work. For anything else, please ask first. Thanks.


End file.
